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Dice Worker Placement2016
Lorenzo il Magnifico box art
Dice Worker Placement

Lorenzo il Magnifico

Renaissance worker placement where shared dice decide how much muscle everyone gets.

3.7 out of 53.7/5

Designed by Flaminia Brasini, Virginio Gigli, Simone Luciani · 2016

Players2-4
Play time60-120 min
WeightMedium-Heavy
Ages12+
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The verdict

A tight, mean little engine-builder that rewards planning and punishes drift. If you like clean Euros with teeth, it's one of the best in its weight class.

Best for: Euro players who want sharp decisions and a little cruelty

The full review

What it is

Here's the hook. Every round you roll three colored dice, and that roll sets how strong everyone's family members are that turn. Then you send those workers out to grab cards, money, and resources off a shared board. You're building little engines that feed each other: development cards, military, faith, and a points push at the end. Reviewers keep calling it tight, and players love that there's almost no fluff. Just decisions stacked on decisions.

The catch

Now the honest part. That faith track will hurt you. Miss the threshold at the wrong moment and you eat a papal punishment that nags you the rest of the game, and new players get blindsided by it constantly. The teach is the real wall, though. Stacks of icons, interlocking systems, a board that takes a full game to read. And at two players it shrinks badly, with too much shut off. This one wants three or four to breathe. The CMON box and bits get gripes too.

Who it's for

So who's this for? People who like their Euros lean and a little cruel. If you want a warm theme, look elsewhere, because the Renaissance dressing is thin and you'll forget it's there. But the decision space is fantastic and games come down to the wire, with someone roaring past the leader on a last-round point dump. It's earned its long stay near the BGG Top 100. Bring patient players and play it at full count.

What other players say

This write-up is grounded in real reviews and player discussion, not just one opinion. A few worth reading:

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